Stem Cell Research, CRISPR, Gene Therapy, Synthetic Biology, Eugenics, and Designer Babies

Vocabulary flashcards covering stem cell research, CRISPR technology, gene therapy, synthetic biology applications, historical eugenics movement, and ethical considerations related to designer babies.

Stem Cells

Special type of cells that can reproduce indefinitely (self-renew) and differentiate into other cell types.

Totipotent

Stem cells that can form an entire organism.

Pluripotent

Stem cells (like embryonic stem cells) that can become any tissue type.

Multipotent

Adult stem cells that can become a specific tissue type (e.g., Hematopoietic Stem Cells).

Hematopoietic Stem Cells

Found in bone marrow and blood, can give rise to all blood cells.

Induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) Cells

Stem cells generated from adult somatic (body) cells by reprogramming them to behave like embryonic stem cells.

Reprogramming Factors

Master regulator genes, typically including TFs Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc, introduced into somatic cells to generate iPS cells.

Patient-Matched iPSCs

iPSCs derived directly from adult tissues in a patient-matched manner, eliminating the need for embryos and reducing the risk of immune rejection.

Brain Organoids

Three-dimensional tissue cultures that mimic the human brain, generated from human iPSCs that spontaneously develop complex structures.

Organoid Intelligence (OI)

Concept of using cerebral organoids for bio-computing, aiming to reproduce the computational performance of computers with the energy efficiency of the human brain.

Electrophysiology in OI

Technological breakthrough used to communicate with brain organoids in Organoid Intelligence.

Artificial Intelligence in OI

Technological breakthrough used to analyze the large amount of data brain tissue produces in Organoid Intelligence.

DishBrain

A network of neurons connected to electrodes which uses living neurons collected from human induced pluripotent stem cells to grow and learn to play Pong

Amara's Law

We tend to overestimate the effect of technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run

Tominersen

An antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) being developed by Ionis Pharmaceuticals, designed to bind to a specific mRNA target in order to treat Huntington’s disease.

Gene Therapy

Used to treat genetic disorders by delivering the “missing” gene’s DNA to the cells of the body.

Leber Congenital Amaurosis

Genetic form of blindness, a defect in the RPE65 gene being treated with genetic engineering.

Vectors in Gene Therapy

Agents like retroviruses, adenoviruses, adeno-associated viruses used in gene therapy to transfer genetic material into cells.

CRISPR

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. A natural immune system used by bacteria against viruses.

Cas9

An enzyme that acts as "molecular scissors" to cut DNA.

Guide RNA (gRNA)

Directs Cas9 to a specific target sequence in the genome.

Gene Knockout

Inactivation of a gene achieved by introducing random mutations using non-homologous end joining during CRISPR-mediated genome editing.

Gene Knockin

Insertion of new DNA using a donor DNA template with homologous directed repair during CRISPR-mediated genome editing

Casgevy

A cell- based gene therapy approved for the treatment of sickle cell disease in patients 12 years of age and older.

BioXp 9600

"Automated synthetic biology workstation" that can synthesize 25 genes simultaneously.

Xenotransplantation

Using animal organs in people in need of a transplant.

Thylacine Integrated genetic restoration research

TIGRR, working to restore ecological role of extinct species with newly adapted ecotypes.

Rewilding the Arctic

Proponents say rewilding the Arctic with lab-grown woolly mammoths could slow global warming by slowing the melting of the permafrost, where methane is currently trapped.

Synthetic Morphology

Making artificial multicellular structures.

Xenobots

Synthetic living organisms, essentially "living robots," that spontaneously self-assemble from frog stem cells. They exhibit behaviors like movement, self-repair, and self-replication.

RFdiffusion

A network which is trained on millions of protein structures, it begins with total noise and then produces a new protein.

ProGen neural network

Designed millions of new CRISPR protein sequences including new hyper accurate and very versatile gene-editing tools.

Evo 2

Trained on 128,000 genomes spanning the tree of life; can write whole chromosomes and small genomes from scratch.

Democratization of Biology

The ease of access to cutting-edge technology. Weekend hobbyists, self- styled as “Bio-hackers" such as Genespace and Biocurious exist.

Genspace

A state-of- the-art DIYbio laboratory where everyone can experiment; a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting education in molecular biology for both children and adults.

Biohacking

Refers to biotechnology experimentation conducted by non-professionals, often involving genetic engineering or DIY biology.

Project Heracles

A DNA-programmable nanobot bioweapon that targets a certain person for death through their DNA but are harmless to any other person without that DNA.

Ethical dimensions in Bio-computing

Addressing the ethical dimensions surrounding consciousness in bio-computing systems, building on perspectives like Bentham’s views on moral status.

Germ-line gene therapy

Currently not legal due to unresolved ethical issues.

Enhancement gene therapy

Enhance traits such as intelligence and athletic ability- not currently legal due to unresolved ethical issues.

Eugenics

Selective reproduction to improve human species.

Negative Eugenics

Aimed to eliminate, through sterilization or segregation, those deemed physically, mentally, or morally "undesirable".

Positive Eugenics

Selectively breeding people as done with domesticated animals.

Geneticists Manifesto

Demanding measures to improve the genetic quality of the human race but stating that natural talent could not be assessed in the USA which did not offer equal opportunities to its citizens.

He Jiankui

Attempted to precision edit (using CRISPR) the genome of two embryos to give them resistance to HIV.

Polygenic Screening

IVF can produce multiple viable embryos, and since the 1980s families have been able to select between them for embryos free of monogenic conditions such as cystic fibrosis or Huntington’s. But most traits and diseases are influenced by many genes-analyses of these is called polygenic screening.

Polygenic Risk Score (PRS)

assesses someone's risks of a condition based on thousands of genetic variants. PRS can also be used to predict other things such as a child's IQ

In Vitro Gametogenesis (IVG)

Reconstitution of germ cell development in vitro, is an emerging stem cell-based technology with profound implications for reproductive science.

Pleiotropic

Genes of major effect that bring tradeoffs